It's been rumored for the past month or so that Robert Brooks, a retired Bethlehem firefighter and current President of the Pa Professional Firefighters' Ass'n, was going to be announcing his candidacy for the now crowded race for the Democratic nomination to the Pa.-07 Congressional seat currently held by Republican Ryan Mackenzie. Yesterday, rumor became reality. Brooks not only announced but did so with multiple text bombs. I got three nearly identical text messages from him, except for the ask. The first just requested a "donation today." A second asked me to be a "Founding Donor." A third asked me to split a donation between "The Next 50 and me." He also received the endorsement of Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders, who asked me to send $27.
Brooks, who was able to retire and start collecting a defined benefit pension after just 20 years in Bethlehem, proclaims himself as an everyman. Aside from government employees, I know of very few people who have that kind of perc.
Other things bother me much more. He has previously supported Lamont McClure in the Pa.-07 Congressional race and has even sent text messages calling him a "strong Democrat with a proven track record of putting out fires and a long history of standing up to corruption." Would an everyman suddenly stab someone in the back the way Brooks just did?
And is he even really a Democrat?
In 2019, he posted the Clint Eastwood meme you see above, which stand for some well-known Republican ideals. I could understand a Democrat might endorse second amendment rights. He might think we need stronger discipline. He might want us all to tougher on crime. He might even think prayer in schools is a good idea. But if he supports all of these, it's time for him to change his party registration. What bothers me most is the skull with a Roman numeral III. This signifies the three percenters, "a decentralized, far-right, anti-government movement in the United States."
Finally, he's simply not a very nice person. Let me explain why.
In 2008, his in-laws transferred a residential property to him and his then wife and even fronted the cost of subdividing the property to the tune of $55,000. Everyman Brooks promised to pay the money back but never did. Eventually, he and his then wife agreed to sign a promissory note for the money, with monthly payment of $630. He never paid a cent. He was sued, and a $130,000 award was entered against him in 2020. In an effort to string things along, he appealed but lost in a unanimous Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling. In 2022, judgment was entered against him for $130,000.
That judgment remains open of record.
After screwing over his in-laws, he and his wife eventually parted ways, with a divorce being granted in 2018. He finally quitclaimed his interest in the property to his ex-wife in 2022. But before that happened, two foreclosure actions were filed against him. And he was sued by two credit card companies. He currently owns no real estate.
He's no working-class hero. A man who screwed over his own family and who dropped a candidate he said he supported is someone who will drop the working class he now pretends to champion.
Other Democrats in this race include NorCo Exec Lamont McClure, Susan Wild- puppet Carol Obando-Derstine, blatant opportunist Mark Pinsley, and carpetbagger and pretend-Democrat Ryan Crosswell.
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